Over the years, a very wide range of reclining chairs have been proposed or actually utilized. These generally fall into two classes, those in which a seat and back rest move as a unit from an upright to one or more reclining positions, and those in which a seat and back rest move to one or more reclining positions accompanied by a change in angle between the back rest and the seat. Such chairs are commonly provided with a fixed or movable leg rest, and may be operated either automatically by body movements of the user or manually, as by means of an operating lever. Commonly, such chairs are capable of assuming a semi-reclining or "T.V." position suitable for reading or watching television, and a more fully reclining position suitable for resting. Many chairs also have provision for locking of the chair, at least in its semi-reclining position. The object of all of these chairs is to promote relaxation of the user.
Such chairs are so well known that it is not in general believed necessary to consider specific examples of such chairs. I would however refer to U.S. Pat. No. 3,235,304 issued Feb. 15, 1966 to H. P. Glass, which provides a convenient illustration of how known reclining chairs differ from the chair of my invention. The chair shown by Glass has a rigid body supporting unit adapted to support the head, back, sides and lower legs of an occupant, this body supporting unit being suspended from a supporting frame, which frame carries a manually operated winding mechanism whereby the chair may be moved between different reclining positions ranging from semi- to fully reclining. However, in common with all other reclining chairs of which I am aware, the chair is not capable of being moved to a position in which the body is to a substantial degree inverted, and if it were so moved, the angles of the head rest and leg rest are such as would respectively tend to support the shoulders of the user and tip the user's legs out of contact with the chair. Moreover, no restraint is provided such as would retain the user in the chair in such a position, let alone the specific type of restraint required by the present invention, a primary object of which is to provide a chair which can be utilized to apply spinal traction to the occupant. The Glass chair, in common with other conventional reclining chairs, is in no way adapted or intended for this purpose.
Spinal traction may be applied by various known methods, but commonly by use of a chiropractor's couch. A patient on such a couch is commonly restrained by the ankles or thorax, and the couch is then tilted to a sufficient angle for the desired degree of traction to be applied to the patient by the action of gravity. A difficulty with the use of leg restraint arises from the fact that the human frame, and in particular the length of the legs, is quite commonly asymmetrical and unless great care is utilized in applying the restraints, it is difficult for the tractive force to be divided evenly between the two legs of the patient. This problem means that such traction can only be administered with skilled assistance, and home treatment, whether with or without such assistance, is usually inpracticable.
The object of the present invention is to provide a device which can be used to apply spinal traction, whilst avoiding the above problems, and which at the same time can also do duty as a conventional reclining chair, and can form an acceptable article of home furnishing.